The portrait of families and young children we rarely see, as they escape the fighting in syria. And this number tonight. Nearly 5,000 syrians fleeing every day. Abc's bob woodruff this evening in lebanon, on the syrian border, where families are living in former prison cells, any place they can find, to survive. Reporter: Mothers and children in search of survival. Shelter for some is an abandoned prison. This is your new home? How many people sleep in here? Five. Reporter: Five of you? Is it cold in here? Very cold. Reporter: This is your new place? This 12-year-old shows me her life here. Bars on the windows. Bare cement floors. It is unimaginable what these children have witnessed. When you are sleeping at night, do you have dreams of shells? She tells us she has nightmares of the sheing. What did you see? Translator: We saw bodies and the planes were dropping bombs. Reporter: And you saw people that were killed? Yes. Reporter: You thinking about your father? It's okay, sweetie. When night falls, the children struggle to stay warm. Many are sick. So cold that families cook inside their tents. Two days ago, a fire ripped through the c row after row. But morning light brings hope. Children warm their feet. The charity save the children is here, trying to help. They've even set up a school nearby. But fear is just beneath the surface. This little girl broke into tiers. She thought our camera was a gun. We showed her she was safe. Everyone missesir old life and those left behind. Today, they can't afford to call home, so, we lend them our phones. Mothers and children talking to their families for the very first time in months. Smiles say everything. Hello? The smiles from the children there. Bob woodruff joins you tonight from beirut. We are all watching here the suffering from half a world away. When we report on children like we, we get asked is there anything anyone can do this far away? Reporter: They really need right now, they need warmer clothes and shoes, they need fuel for inside their tents so they can actually cook and then also heat with that. We also know that the save the children, $20, you can give, they can actually get them, you know, student kits, which mean they get pencils and paper and backpacks. And also, the doctors without borders takes care a lot of the medical needs. They said, for $20, they could get vaccines for 44 children to imewe nice them from measles. There's a lot to be done and a lot of people are going to want to do it. All right, bob, thank you.

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